A group of exiled former Ukrainian politicians have set up a salvation committee in Moscow, and are demanding the current politicians in charge in Kyiv resign.

The committee held a press conference at the hotel Ukraine in Moscow, calling on President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to step back, and allow early elections. Members also said they will not take part in the upcoming local elections in October, branding it a farce.

The committee also said that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych would not be its candidate for president.

Russian media has named the committee's actions as an attempt to set up a government in exile.

The Kremlin has put a distance between itself and the initiative, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying the committee has coordinated with some Russian authorities, but the Kremlin would need to analyze the committee and the situation before adding, or not adding, support.

“The situation in Ukraine, in fact, is far from ideal, and it had primarily economic degradation trends with all the ensuing consequences. And so far we don't see any indications that the economic situation is going to improve,” Peskov said, TASS reported.

He added that the Ukrainian authorities have failed to observe many clauses of the Minsk agreement.

The committee includes Vladimir Oleinik, a former Ukrainian Yulia Timoshenko Block MP, and former Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov.